Misunderstanding

Disclaimer: I don't own the Dukes of Hazzard, not making any money, just cheap thrills.


Warnings: Angst, Slash


Rating: FRM


* indicates thoughts


Misunderstanding
Chapter 10


Enos had never felt so sick before, the things he was finding in Bobby's house were truly disgusting. The hate filled literature that he had found had been bad enough, but the pictures were even worse. Pictures of men being raped, beaten until they no longer looked human, strung up, their tongues swollen and black protruding from their mouths. The young deputy wasn't as naive as a lot of people thought, but he had never known that people could be this cruel. What bothered him the most was that these men were targeted only because of who they loved. They hadn't done anything to hurt anybody, hadn't committed any crimes, and yet, they were violated and tortured in the worst possible ways. Enos didn't know which was worse, the fact that these men were hurt like this, or the fact that so many otherwise good people seemed to think it was okay. He wondered what they would think if they could see these pictures? That thought was almost enough to make him want to take them to the newspaper and insist that they be published; make all the good, law abiding citizens look at the the horrible things done to others for loving the wrong people.


"Enos, you find anything?" Rosco called, stepping into the house. "Enos, you okay?" Rosco asked, concerned by his deputy's lack of response.


"What? Oh, hey sheriff," Enos finally replied, looking up from the pictures he held. "I haven't found anything that'd tell us who any of the other men are."


"Then what have ya got there?"


"Some pictures I found, they're pretty awful sheriff," Enos told him, handing over the pictures.


"Jumping jehosaphat, how can anybody...? Enos, have you looked at all of these?" Rosco suddenly asked, paling so much that his skin seemed to be nearly transparent.


"No sir, you came in before I could look through them all. Why?"


"That's why," Rosco replied, holding up a picture of Bo Duke.


"Sheriff ya can't let anybody see these. Please sheriff, we got to keep these private," Enos begged. He looked in horror at the picture Rosco held. If he had thought the other pictures were bad, they were nothing compared to seeing a friend being tormented. The thought of Bo being beaten like that, and Bobby Jensen taking pictures of it as it happened sickened him. "Oh God," Enos moaned, nearly dropping the pictures when he found it.


"What is it Enos?" Rosco asked, not sure he wanted to know.


"He took pictures of the sexual assault," Enos replied. "Sheriff look at Bo's face," Enos said.


Looking down at the picture Enos held out to him, Rosco felt sick at the look of despair and the tears streaming down the younger man's face. He might've spent a lot of time trying to put the Duke boys in jail, but he didn't really have anything against them. He only ever chased them because Boss ordered him to, and that was mostly to keep them from messing up Boss' schemes. Never in a million years would he have wished something like this. "You're right Enos, we got to keep these pictures private. We ain't got no choice but to turn them over to the Cedar City police, but we'll do all we can to make sure that only the people who have a reason get to see these things. Too bad Bobby didn't take any pictures with his friend's faces showing."


"Maybe he did," Enos said, holding up one more picture of Bo and a large man wearing a green plaid shirt. A picture that showed the face of Bo's assailiant, though with the distance it was hard to make out any features.


"Well what good is that gonna do us ya dipstick? As far away as he is, and with the shadows ya can't hardly tell anything about him."


"I know sheriff, but if we took it to Atlanta I bet the State crime lab could do some tricks so we could see the guy better."


"Alright Enos, we'll do that. In the meantime, let's keep looking around here and see what else we can find."




*Bo lay in his lover's arms, enjoying the feel of the strong male arms holding him. Suddenly the door flew open and the room filled with several angry men. Pulling the two men from the bed, they dragged them outside where they were tied to a pair of nearby trees. "It's an abomination for two men to lay together!" A voice in the crowd yelled. "They have to be punished! Faggots! Queers! Cocksuckers!"


He looked up at the sound of a car pulling up to the scene. Seeing his uncle and cousins getting out of the truck, he sagged with relief. "Uncle Jesse, help us," Bo called out.


"I see you found them," Jesse said to the group of men. "Do you have it?"


"Yes," one of the men replied, handing an object to the older man.


"Uncle Jesse? What are you doing?" Bo asked, more afraid than he had ever been.


"I'm doing what I have to do Bo. Us Duke's ain't got much, but we got family and we got pride. I ain't gonna let you shame your family with these perversions. Repent!" Jesse yelled, as the sound of a whip whistling through the air was heard, seconds before it connected with Bo's naked back.


Bo tried his best to hold back the screams of pain, but after a few strikes he couldn't do it. The night air was filled with the screams of Bo and his lover as they were whipped without mercy.*


Bolting upright, Bo struggled to get his breathing under control. Glancing over at his older cousin's bed, he was glad to see that the older man still slept. The voice of his uncle screaming at him to repent still rang in his ears and Bo knew there would be no more sleep for him. Quietly climbing out of the bed, he crept outside to the old barn and went up the ladder into the loft. Sitting in the open doorway, he looked at the stars passing overhead, wondering what the dream had meant. He couldn't help remembering what his rapist had said, he hadn't really believed it before, but now he was wondering. Was the man right? *Am I gay? No, I can't be, I would've known before now if I was. Wouldn't I?* Bo still heard the words his attacker had spoken, but now he heard the voices of his family mixed in with those of his assailants. He kept telling himself that he wasn't gay and that even if he was, his family would never hurt him. Now if he could only make himself believe it.


The sound of his cousin calling his name woke Bo a few hours later. Waking up, he was surprised he had fallen asleep. "Up here Luke, be right in," he called from the open loft door.


"You okay?" Luke called, looking up at his younger cousin.


"Yeah, be down in a minute."


Brushing the hay from his hair and clothes, Bo walked to the ladder and climbed down to the barn floor. He jumped a foot when Luke laid a hand on his shoulder.


"Sorry," Luke apologized, pulling his hand away.


"It's okay Luke, ya just startled me is all."


"What were ya doing up there?"


"I went up there last night to do some thinking, guess I fell asleep."


"What were you thinking about?" Luke asked, the concern for his cousin clearly heard in his voice.


"Just some stuff," Bo vaguely replied. Turning away from his cousin, he walked over to the corn crib and scooped up a portion of feed for the chickens.


"What stuff Bo?" Luke asked, following after him.


"It don't matter Luke," Bo answered, refusing to tell his cousin about his dream.


"Bo," Luke said, that one word containing all of the questions he wanted to ask.


"Just drop it, please," Bo asked, continuing to feed the chickens and trying to ignore Luke.


Deciding that there wouldn't be anything to gain by pushing Bo, Luke wisely dropped the subject. "Alright, but if you want to talk I'll be here," Luke reminded his cousin.


"Thanks Luke," Bo quietly said.


Nodding in acknowledgement, Luke headed for the barn and his own morning chores.

A few hours later, Luke was heading into the house for a couple of cold beers when a blue Mustang pulled up. "Can I help you?" Luke asked the two men suspiciously, as they stepped out of their car.


"Yeah, we're looking for Bo," the blond replied.


"Bo?"


"Sorry I wasn't thinking. I'm Chris Taylor, this is Ray Miller," Chris introduced, mentally slapping himself for not realizing that of course Bo's family would be protective.


"You got something to prove that?" Luke asked, not about to let these men near his cousin until he was sure of their intentions.


"It's alright Luke," Bo said. Coming out of the barn, he was surprised to see Chris and Ray standing in the yard. "Luke this is Chris Taylor and Ray Miller, guys this is my cousin Luke," Bo made the introductions.


"Sorry about that," Luke apologized, holding out his hand to the two men.


"No problem man, I should've realized that you didn't know who we were," Chris said, taking the offered hand.


"Um, what are y'all doing here?" Bo nervously asked.


"Detective Richardson told Ray what happened, we wanted to see if you were okay."


"Or you wanted to talk me into talking to that sketch artist?" Bo turned away from his friends and stalked down towards the creek. *I can't believe this, I thought Chris was my friend. Coming over here and pretending to be worried about me.*


When Bo turned and headed to the creek, Luke quickly excused himself to follow. "Luke," Chris called stopping him in his tracks. "Would it be okay if I talked to him? I'd like the chance to explain why I'm here," he offered.


"I..." Luke began, looking away from the path Bo had taken. Chewing his lip thoughtfully, he finally decided to let Bo's friend try. "Yeah, go ahead, but Chris...don't push him," he cautioned.

"I won't, thanks," Chris responded. Walking quickly away, he followed Bo towards the creek.

"Bo, can I talk to you please?" Chris asked, interrupting Bo's thoughts.


"I thought you were my friend," Bo said, skimming stones into the creek and refusing to look at Chris.


"I am your friend Bo, but you're right too. We didn't come here only to check on you, we were asked to talk to you about the sketch artist. That don't mean that we're not worried about you Bo, and we would've wanted to see you anyway."


"I ain't gonna talk to that sketch artist," Bo told him.


"Can I ask why not?"


"He said that if I said anything he'd kill everybody I love."


"Bo, you know he's just saying that to keep you quiet, don't you?"

"Maybe he is, but I can't take that chance, not with my family," Bo replied.


"Does your family know about the threat he made?"


"Yeah."


"How do they feel about it?"


"They want me to talk to the police and that sketch artist. They say they're willing to take the chance, I just don't see how I can let them."


"Seems to me that if you want this to end you're gonna have to talk to Detective Richardson."


"What do you mean, if I want this to end?"


"Bo, the man who attacked you yesterday knows who you are, so as long as he's free you aren't safe. For that matter neither is your family," Chris answered.


"Sure we are, as long as I stay quiet..."


"Do you think Bobby Jensen was planning to tell anybody who was involved in these attacks?"


"Probably not," Bo admitted.


"But his partner shot and killed him, now why would he believe that you're going to stay quiet?"


"I hadn't thought of that, do you really think he'd come after me anyway?"


"Yeah Bo I do," Chris quietly replied.


"I...I'll think about it."


"Good, you ready to go back to the house now?"


"Could I ask you something first?"


"Sure Bo, anything."


"Do you think I'm gay?"


"What?" Chris yelled. "You think because a man raped you it means you're gay?"


"No, before he...well he made me use my mouth on him again. I thought that was gonna be all that he'd do, but then he told me to...I tried to tell him I wasn't gay. That's when he said that as good as I was at suc...that I couldn't be straight. Do you think he's right?"


"Bo, that doesn't mean anything, I promise you."


"So you don't think I'm gay?"


"It doesn't matter what I think Bo," Chris replied.


"I ain't got anything against it, you know that Chris."


"I know buddy, but that doesn't mean you want him to be right."


"I never thought about it before this," Bo honestly told him. "I mean, I've noticed when I see a man that's good looking, but I wasn't ever attracted to any men. Now though, I'm just confused and scared."


"Let me ask you this, if you had found yourself falling in love with a man before all of this, what would you have done?"


"I don't know, I guess I would've been surprised but I don't think it would've really bothered me any."


"But you're bothered by the idea now?"


"More like I'm scared of it. Chris I always knew there were people out there who thought it was wrong for two men to be in love with each other. I just never realized how far some of them would go to let those men know how they felt."


"I don't think you need to worry about it right now Bo. For starters, I don't think you're gay, you may be bi-sexual. Though to be honest, I'm pretty sure the only way you'd be with a man is if you happened to fall in love. I really can't see you going out looking for a man to get involved with, so I think you should just keep on dating girls and not worry about it."


"Really?"


"Yes. Now you ready to go back to the house?"


"Yeah, and Chris...thanks for coming after me," Bo said, his eyes shimmering suspiciously.


"You're welcome Bo, so what do you say we go rescue Ray from Luke?"


"Okay," Bo agreed, chuckling lightly as he led the way back to the farmhouse.



"Can I ask you something?" Luke asked after several minutes. He was glad to have the opportunity to ask a question that had bothered him for a couple of days.


"Sure," Ray replied, though it was easy to hear the caution in his voice.


"Did you know about these attacks? Before Bo was attacked I mean," Luke explained.


"No I didn't, though there had been rumors," Ray admitted.


"How could you not know? You're a cop, shouldn't you have known?"


"I'm just a patrolman Luke. I haven't been involved in the investigation and since we didn't have any kind of decent description there wasn't any reason for me to be told about it."


"But you said there were rumors?"


"Yeah, but thats all they were..."


"Still, you knew there was at least a possiblity that they were true. So why didn't you walk Bo out to the truck that night? For that matter, why did you choose to meet at a bar where something like this might happen?" Luke demanded, making no attempt to hide the anger he was feeling.

"Now you just hold on a minute," Ray snapped, getting angry himself. "I said I'd heard rumors, but me and Chris don't hang out in the bars much so I didn't know there had been any attacks near that bar. As for walking Bo to the truck, I didn't think about it because he's not gay," Ray explained, not mentioning his suspicions. "I know that was stupid, I should've known that if he was seen coming from a gay bar the wrong conclusion might be found. I didn't think though, and I'm sorry that Bo is suffering because I didn't think...."


"Luke stop!" Bo yelled. Running up and coming to a stop between the two men, Bo placed his hands on his cousin's chest and firmly moved him away from Ray. "What's going on Luke?"


"Ray was just explaining to me how his stupidity got you hurt."


"Luke this ain't Ray's fault, or Chris', you can't be blaming them," Bo said, stunned by Luke's anger.


"He should've made sure you got to the truck okay," Luke insisted.


"Luke, if they had offered to walk me out, I would've told them to stay. Even if Ray had told me that I might be attacked, I would've figured I could handle myself."


"But he..."


"No, now stop it Luke!" Bo snapped. Turning to Ray and Chris, Bo tried to apologize. "Ray, I'm sorry about this. I don't know what's..."


"Don't apologize Bo," Ray interrupted. "I would feel the same way if I was Luke, but maybe me and Chris should go."


"That's not necessary," Bo said. "Is it Luke?" He asked, turning back to his cousin.


"No, it's not," Luke reluctantly agreed. Seeing the look of disappointment in his cousin's eyes, Luke felt ashamed of the way he'd been acting. "Y'all Bo's right, you don't need to leave," he said, this time sounding like he meant it. "I was just headed inside to get us each a beer, why don't the two of you join us," he suggested by way of an apology.


"Sounds good," Ray replied, happy to let the subject drop. He might not have liked the things Luke said, but he certainly understood it. "What do you think babe?"

"Yeah, let's do that," Chris agreed, slipping an arm around his lover's waist he followed Bo and Luke inside.

Pulling a couple of beers from the fridge, Luke casually tossed them to Chris and Ray. Reaching back into the appliance, he pulled out two more, handing one to Bo. Sliding into the seat next to his cousin, he leaned back in his chair and listened as the three men began talking. As he listened, enjoying the sound of Bo chuckling occassionally, he found himself praying that the man who had hurt his cousin and killed Bobby would be found soon.


TBC


I want to say that I appreciate everybody sticking with the story so far. It's so good to hear from y'all, the muses and I are glad to have the feedback. Please let me know what you think of the story so far.